Can the Suns recapture the magic of the 'Valley Boyz' in 2025-2026?

 Suns eyeing to make fans proud again:

Many experts and fans view the 2025-2026 season as a rebuilding year for the franchise, but it doesn’t make next year worthless. Ishbia wants to build a team that represents Phoenix, he doesn’t need to look far to see a Suns team that did that well in the “Valley Boyz.” The term was coined by wing Kelly Oubre Jr. and represented the 2019-2020 team that was headlined by Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, DeAndre Ayton, Cameron Johnson and more.

“It’s love,” Oubre back in 2019 on what “Valley Boyz” means. “It means everything. I give my heart and my soul to the city every time I step onto the court with Phoenix Suns across my chest and they reciprocate the same energy. You can’t ask for a better partnership.

“I just want to create a dynasty and a legacy here in Phoenix with [Deandre Ayton], [Devin Booker], [Mikal Bridges], all the guys in the locker room. It’s beautiful.”

The roster was filled with rookies and second-year players that played with a chip on their shoulders and was led by first-year head coach Monty Williams. Phoenix would have an 15-game improvement from the year before, capped off by a perfect 8-0 NBA Bubble record.

That “rebuild” year led to next season the Suns making the Finals for the first time in nearly three decades, and then a franchise record 64 regular season wins the subsequent year.

The reason for the “Valley Boyz” success was their defensive intensity. The roster had a 111.4 defensive rating and recorded 15.2 deflections per game, each stats around league average. The number don’t look impressive until compared to the 2024-2025 Suns team that had a 119.3 defensive rating and 14.1 deflections, which were both 28th in the league.

Last year’s team struggled to control the glass and get into passing lanes. Phoenix allowed the 10th most offensive rebounds (11.5) that led to the 14th most opponent second chance points (14.0). The “Valley Boyz” were fifth and ninth in those respective categories.

The 2025-2026 Suns has many similarities with the 2019-2020 team. The mouthpiece of Oubre can be fulfilled by Dillon Brooks, who arrived from the Houston Rockets via the Kevin Durant trade. Brooks oozes toughness and grit, all the same characteristics Ishbia claims he wanted for the team. The 29-year-old is physical and vocal on the court, while not taking well to getting punked by opponents, which was a problem from last year’s team.

Wing Ryan Dunn is eerily similar archetype to Bridges. Each are second-year 6’6 defensive wings that have shined signs of becoming more a defensive wing. The “Valley Boyz” had five rookies on the roster, while next year’s team is projected to have five as well, headlined by 10th overall pick Khaman Maluach.

Maluach will surely help the team’s attack on the defensive glass and limit opponents second chance opportunities. Fellow big man newcomer Mark Williams will fill in nicely to the Ayton role of being a double double machine. Williams is an athletic lob threat that can help increase the team’s pace, which was 25th last year.

All the comparisons from the new players to the old leads to the single connection between the two teams: Devin Booker. Even in 2019-2020, Booker was the leader and the veteran of the team, a title he still holds to this day. The four-time All-Star before the “Valley Boyz” run was seen as an empty-calories stat padder on a losing team.

In one bubble run, Booker was able to turn that narrative around and propel himself into a household name. Almost poetically, guard Jalen Green is going through the same identity crisis. Green is entering his fifth-year and is coming off an embarrassing playoff debut, averaging 13.3 points on 37.2% shooting.

Experts and fans alike are crucifying the 23-year-old for his playoff failure and not being a winning player. Entering next year, Green will be the same age as Booker during the 2019-2020 season. Booker can mentor and morph Green into the being a two-time All-NBA member himself.

The former number two overall pick was drafted into a situation where he was expected to contribute right away at 19 years old. The Green experiment in Houston will be seen as a failure, but it is up to the new Suns guard to prove the Rockets and experts wrong, much like Booker did in the Bubble.

Ishbia first two years as owner has been a disaster with the championships aspirations he set when first arriving in the Valley. The UWM CEO is hoping that fellow Michigan State Alum head coach Jordan Ott can follow in the footsteps of Monty Williams in being the perfect voice and leader to lead this new, young iteration of the Suns that can make Phoenix proud.